Garlic mashed faux-tatoes

When I was on my post-Euro trip detox, I learned a lot of magic tricks with cauliflower. You can “rice” it. You can turn it into pizza dough. You also can steam it, mash it, add some butter, and abracadabra! Mashed faux-tatoes!

Here’s how to do it.

Garlic mashed faux-tatoes

Makes about 2 cups.

You’ll need:

1 head of cauliflower

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 tablespoons butter, melted

chives, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

Here’s what to do:

First, put a steamer with 2-3 inches of water on medium high heat.

Next, prepare the cauliflower. Use a chef’s knife to cut off the stem and leaves, then use a paring knife to cut around the core. Remove and discard core and rinse thoroughly. Break the head into pieces, and cut the pieces into florets with tip of paring knife.

When the water in the steamer is boiling, throw in the cauliflower florets. Steam until very tender, about 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once the olive oil is hot, add the garlic and fry until light golden brown. Set aside.

When the cauliflower is ready, you have three options to mash it:

Use a potato masher. The end result won’t be as “fluffy”, but it’ll work.

Blender. Because there’s not much liquid, you’ll need to pulse the blender, then stop and push down the cauliflower with a spoon, and pulse again. It can be a little messy.

Food processor. Preferred method, no special instructions needed.

Whichever method you choose, combine the cauliflower, oil and garlic, butter, and salt, and mash, blend, or process until it resembles mashed potatoes.